The Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University

MERTON'S CORRESPONDENCE WITH:
Pawsey, Humphrey, Dom, O. Cart.

Click here to exit print-formated view.

Descriptive Summary

Record Group: Section A - Correspondence

Dates of materials: 1947-1952

Volume: 9 item(s); 13 pg(s)

Scope and Content

During the late 1940's and some of the 1950's, Merton experienced a vocational crisis. He had an interest in the Carthusians at the time he entered the Trappists, but it was World War II and there were no Carthusian foundations in the United States. When there was a chance of the Carthusians coming to America after the war, it presented a temptation for Merton to leave. He was faced with the notoriety from the publication of The Seven Storey Mountain, and wanted more solitude and space for contemplation. He was concerned about an overly busy routine he thought was working its way into the Trappist lifestyle.

Biography

Dom Humphrey Pawsey was a Carthusian monk from St. Hugh's Charterhouse in England. In the 1950's, he became superior of their American foundation at Sky Farm in Vermont.

Usage Guidelines and Restrictions

Related Information and Links

See published letters from Merton to Pawsey in The School of Charity, pp. 13-14 and 39-41.

Other Finding Aids

If the person in correspondence with Merton has full text records in the Merton Center Digital Collections, there will be a numeric link to them below.
   

Series List

This Record Sub-Group is not divided into Series and is arranged chronologically.

Container List

SeriesDateTypeTo/FromFirst LinesPubFull TextNotes
 1947/04/12 TLS[x]from MertonYour letter has been gratefully received and the books ordered. How quickly they will get there is   
 1948/02/13 (#01)HLSto MertonI write a line to say that according to prevailing export and import laws I can only send you Denis'  difficulty of buying books abroad / Merton's anthology of mystical verse / Pawsey sending an article on Carthusian life [see attachments from the same date]
 1948/02/13 (#02)otherto MertonThe Duke of Montrose, a contributor to The Countryman on several occasions, was to have written an  [enclosed with 1948/02/13 letter] article from <u>The Countryman</u>, Spring, 1947, "On Giving Up One's Old Home" by Lady Jean Graham / Pawsey writes a note about the "great families" having to give up their properties and hopes that the monasteries will not be next
 1948/02/13 (#03)otherto MertonJ.M.J. [-] Jesus to cast one thought upon Makes gladness after He is gone; But more than honey and  [enclosed with 1948/02/13 letter] "Iesu Dulcis Memoria" translated in verse by Gerard Manley Hopkins
 1949/06/21 TLS[x]from MertonIt is a long time since I have written to you and I cannot remember whether I have acknowledgedYes  
 1952/09/11 TALS[x]from MertonYou may have been expecting some sort of letter from me. I have long meant to write you at leastYes  
 1952/09/25 (#01)TLSto MertonIt was good to hear from you again; though I have often recalled our exchange of letters some few   
 1952/09/25 (#02)TL[x]to MertonIt was good to hear from you again; though I have often recalled our exchange of letters some few   
 1952/11/18 TLS[x]from MertonIt is some time since you kindly wrote and asked me to come up to Vermont to talk things over.   
        

    The Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University | 2001 Newburg Rd, Louisville KY, 40205 | 502-272-8187

    Copyright © The Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University. All rights reserved.